Matheus Nunes, a midfielder for Sporting CP, is expected to be the subject of a £43 million proposal from Chelsea.
The 23-year-old, who has spent the previous three years in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, is reportedly on the Blues’ watchlist as the team looks to strengthen its midfield in time for the 2022–23 Premier League season, which begins on August 6 with a trip to Everton for Chelsea.
After making his senior debut last year, the midfielder has played for Portugal eight times and might be a member of the Portuguese team that participates at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar later this year. According to reports from the Portuguese publication A Bola, Chelsea is prepared to offer €45 million (£38.6 million) for the 23-year-old player, plus an additional €5 million (£4.3 million) in prospective add-ons.
Wolverhampton Wanderers, who have been heavily linked with Nunes this summer and were even prepared to pay the same amount that Chelsea has reportedly agreed with Sporting, will be disappointed by the news. They were unable to raise the funds after choosing not to sell Ruben Neves, who has drawn interest from Manchester United, Arsenal, Newcastle United, and Barcelona.
Despite the big Portuguese population in the West Midlands and playing for a Portuguese manager in Bruno Lage, it is anticipated that Nunes will be more interested in moving to Stamford Bridge where Chelsea compete for trophies and offer Champions League football.
Following his transfer from Estoril to Sporting in January 2019 for a fee of €500,000 (£428,508) for half of the player’s economic rights, Nunes has made 99 appearances for Sporting in the past three and a half seasons in all competitions.
Matheus Nunes has achieved success at Sporting by winning the Primeira Liga championship, two Taca de Liga cups, being selected to the division’s Team of the Year last season, and being awarded the league’s midfielder of the month in October and November.
The Blues haven’t made a signing since Todd Boehly purchased Chelsea from Roman Abramovich earlier this summer for £4.25 billion, although they have been linked with a number of high-profile moves.
After Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen left on free transfers this summer for Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively, the focus is anticipated to be on center-backs. Nathan Ake of Manchester City and Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus are two players who have so far been mentioned in connection with the Blues’ interest.
Following Cristiano Ronaldo’s announcement to Manchester United this weekend that he was open to leave the club this summer, Chelsea has also been linked with a surprise move to recruit the striker. Raphinha of Leeds United and Raheem Sterling of Manchester City have also been mentioned in connection.
Club captain Cesar Azpilicueta and fellow Spanish defender Marcos Alonso have both been mentioned as possible targets for Barcelona due to the large number of incomings that are both anticipated and necessary as part of a summer rebuild. Additionally, winger Hakim Ziyech seems destined to sign with Serie A champion AC Milan.
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